Deeper
by skiaholic
Summary: "Let me tell you a story" Hamnet said. Baby Luxa and the pup were silent.
1. Hamnet

**The emotions and experiences that pushed Hamnet over the edge.**

**Normal text is Hamnet in real time. Italicized text is Hamnet's flashback.**

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><p>"If not them, than me..."<p>

Except, Hamnet had to say it twice to believe himself. "If not them, than me." he said aloud this time.

Hamnet laid alone in his chamber. His body ached from the events hours earlier. He had to kill them, all of them, and that was an order. Ordered to open the water levy, ordered to flood the garden, ordered to kill the thousands of gnawers below_. . _. So much death only a few hours ago ordered from his mother.

The guilt pained him, gnawed at him from the inside. It made him feel sick and weak and tired as if he had just met each Gnawer in hand-to-hand combat. But all he did was open the levy.

Hamnet swore that there were gnawer screams coming from his stone walls. Water was coming through the door and flooding the room. A dead soldier floated by the foot of his bed. Hamnet's heart was beating hundreds of times a second, almost droning out the sound of the gnawer screams. But when he rubbed his eyes, there was no water in the room. There was no dead man by his bed, and his walls were only cold stone. His heart was still beating rapidly. Hamnet grabbed a goblet of wine, and set it down empty seconds later.

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><p><em>Only Hamnet and two other men with their fliers were sent to do the work; Solovet and two thousand soldiers eagerly waited just beyond the garden. The orders were simple: open the gates, kill the gnawers.<em>

_As Hamnet and the two others were departing, "Hamnet!" Solovet called out to her son. The two other man flew on leaving Hamnet with the final orders. _

_"If not them." Solovet said in her cold steely voice. Her eyes finished the sentence, purple irises that knew no humor._

_"No Mother." Hamnet thought, although something much different came out._

_"Yes General" Hamnet said, returning to his men calm but raw._

_The water levy stood sentinel over the garden. In the Underland, there is no better demonstration of life than the Garden of Hesperides. An oasis amidst the Wastelands, acres of trees that bore exotic fruits which provided habitat for thousands. A refuge for hunters, sanctuary for beggars, and a Promise for the weak and ill. There was no killing here because no killing needed to be had._

_Stone slabs made up the walls of the levy, which was held together by wooden perpendicular wooden beams. The plan was simple, remove the beams and the slabs would give way to the water - as well as the garden. _

_Hamnet flew high on Hera. He held a vantage point on the garden below and would be able to warn his men if there was any resistance. The two soldiers jumped off onto a slab as their fliers hovered nearby. They began to dislodge the beam by lifting it from its holds in the stone._

_Theoretically, the beam could be lifted in increments which would allow everyone to remove the beam from a safe position. Although a hundred years of water damage had reduced the beam to a rotten mass. The beam shattered in Hamnet's men's hands from the force of the dam. Horizontal geysers erupted from the dam knocking the men off the walls to the garden a hundred feet below. Their fliers would have of saved their bonds had not the water pushed a stone slab after them. Their deaths were quick and painless._

_Then came the water._

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><p>A battle report lied on bedside desk, open so he could read it from where he lied.<p>

**Known Kills: 1452 (Gnawers)  
>Unknown Kills: 1500 (Gnawers)<br>Estimated Kills: 3000 (Gnawers)**

**Casualties: 4 (2 fliers, 2 Humans)**

Although Hamnet read something very different.

**Known Kills: Gnawers (Mothers, Fathers, Pups)  
>Unknown Kills: Old Nibblers, Young fliers, The Weak<br>Estimated Kills: Whoever Solovet wants dead**

**Casualties: Hamnet**

Hamnet was dead. His body laid limp on its side with a petrified gaze on the report that sat before him. Although his heart still beat. His brain still thought and his limbs still functioned. Only a groan came from the dead body of Hamnet.

But none of that mattered, Hamnet was dead and Solovet had killed him.

Only one thing saved Hamnet that night, one small thing. A gnawer crawled out from under the battle report with a noticeable squeak. Hamnet's petrified gaze broke as it turned to the small rodent and a crazy thought brought him back to life. He cut the pup a block of cheese and refilled his goblet of wine. The pitiful creature so small, slipped into the goblet and had to be fished out. After eating and drinking its fill, the squeaking slowly became less noticeable as the creature fell to sleep. Hamnet thought that there was something beautiful to the rhythmic whistling of the pups wet nose and twitching of its long whiskers.

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><p><em>The water was unstoppable. A wall of water 200 feet tall enveloped the garden below. Trees hundreds of years old, sentinels of the garden, were swept away like clots of dust under a broom. Screams of mothers and shrieks of pups lasted all but a second before the wave hushed them into an eternal sleep. In the matter of a minute, everything was gone.<em>

_Some trees floated to the surface, debris of leaves and sticks covered the black surface of the water, black like Solovets soul. A few creatures floated to the surface. Hamnet knew many of them where entombed in their caves below, a hundred feet below the surface. "For the better," Hamnet thought, "they rest in peace of Solovet." Because it was those who rose to the surface that were dragged away and piled into heaps. Some of the creatures were still alive, but disabled with broken backs. Disabled from the neck down, they could only cry as they were piled with their dead kin, doused in black oil, and burned from the memory of the Underland._

_But not from the memory of Hamnet..._

_Hamnet watched wordlessly from the back of Hera. Men worked tirelessly in removing the bodies from the black water, but just as one carcass would be removed, another would rise. . ._

_The two watched endlessly as gnawers old and young, big and small were dragged away and disposed of. His next moves were as instinctual as they were merciful, but he only needed to think his thoughts for Hera to act. They swooped down where two men were removing one gnawer corpse. Hamnet ordered them off with a command and leaned off Hera near the body. He placed his head over the gnawer's snout to hear no breathing, he even checked for a pulse under its matted fur. Its life had been quenched by Hamnet's orders. _

_The body bobbed away from under Hamnet as another creature arose from under, cold and stiff like the last. It was another gnawer whose limbs clutched two babes to its breast. The mothers last futile attempts of saving her litter was to break the wave with her own body, but not all the love in the world could stop the onslaught of the water, or even Solovets wrath._

_Just as Hamnet pushed away from the second body, a noise arose from the first body that Hamnet had ordered his men off of. It was a small noise, a scared noise, and only a squeak of a noise. It came from the snout of the first gnawer, but was much to small to be the gnawer itself. But it was true, for there was still life, in, this gnawer. Hamnet opened the snout and found tucked between two jaws of bleached white teeth twelve ounces of life. A newborn pup._

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><p>Three goblets of wine later and Hamnet was a smorgasbord of emotions. A scuffle at the door caught his attention. Hamnet drew his sword in one fluid motion, still on edge from the events earlier in the day. Three year old Luxa stumbled into his room. She had a purple dress on fit for a princess, only with an unqueenly bulge of a full diaper. A ball rolled by him and she chased after it in a baby-style teeter, part stumbling part scooting.<p>

The sight made Hamnet laugh.

As she stumbled by him, Hamnet swooped her up in one arm and cradled her as he sat back onto his bed. The tiara she wore on her head was the crown of innocence, although her big eyes seemed to see right into him. She had the eyes of Vikus, and Hamnet let out a sigh of relief. Every trait of Vikus she possessed over that of Solovet was a win. This princess was three years old and will rule the Underland one day. Hamnet is going to make sure she did it right.

The first lesson Hamnet ever taught Luxa was that day - a lesson in diplomacy. He tucked the sleeping pup under a chubby arm of the princess. Princess Luxa instinctively rubbed her thick cheeks against the soft head of her new friend.

For the second time that day, Hamnet laughed. "The natural state of the Underland" Hamnet said examining the two babes. "Under the impression of innocence, besides the infiltrations of greed and pride is friendship." A gaping yawn from Luxa told Hamnet what time it was.

"Let me tell you a story" Hamnet said. Baby Luxa and the pup were silent.

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><p><em> The Garden of Hesperides. It was said that Hesperides was a flier queen and was the kindest soul to ever live. One day as her she and her colony feasted on fish by the water, ships appeared on the horizon. Onboard of these ships was a band of gnawers, bandits who only saw the fliers as an obstruction to the great fishing grounds they held. Therefore they destroyed the obstruction, slayed every flier before they could even take to the air. Only Hesperides lived.<em>

_ Desperate after her friends and family had been killed, Hesperides engaged on a long flight over the waterway. She discovered a jungle on the other side, where life teemed and she met kind new creatures of all species. Wishing to share the same sort of life she had found in the jungle, she gathered a single seed of every plant and flew back to the shore where her colony lived._

_ All that was left were the rotten bodies of her kin and friends. No fish inhabited the shore, for they were hunted to extinction and poisoned by the wrought of unkempt corpses. Nothing was left in the desolate space Hesperides once called home. But Hesperides took the wreckage of her home and created something beautiful. She buried each of her kin in respectable graves and lied one seed with each corpse. It is said the love of her kin nourished the seedlings to become the great garden it is today._

_ It was only time before the black sails of the gnawers were seen again. They boarded the flier's turf snarling and cursing, but were only greeted by Hesperides bearing a tray of fruit. She fed them all, ripe fruits from every tree twice, until each gnawer was incapacitated by the full bellies they held. Every creature that day fell asleep happy and content with the sticky juice of fruit on their whiskers. In the morning, the gnawers awoke to white fur. Their paws and maws were smaller, their voices higher, and their appetite desiring of fruit and fish. Overnight, Hesperides compassion had turned the tribe of ruthless gnawers into a band of compassionate nibblers._

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><p>By the time Hamnet finished his story, the baby princess was sound asleep in his lap. Blonde lashes covered where her big purple eyes shouldve been. Hamnet laid the two sleeping babes on his bed as he left to scrub the stench of Regalian-fine wine from his pores. Hamnet wasn't sure if it was the wine speaking or the baby princess making an impression on him but his thoughts ran rampant.<p>

"What has war ever done for me?" Hamnet thought. It has made him into a precision weapon that can tactically destroy masses of innocent creatures. But then, there was what his mother told him it did. It was war and combat that helped the humans seize Regalia from the diggers as well as the throne of the Underland. The lovely chamber he stood in - a product of war.

"So pretty" yes, it was so pretty, intricate stonewo-

"So so pretty" Were the words that Hamnet heard coming from his bedchamber this time.

Hamnet dashed from his washroom only half dressed to find his mother sitting with Luxa. Solovet was still clad in full battle attire: ring mail covered her torso, plate armor over her legs, and a red stained scabbard that was once black displayed a visible weapon at her hip. She only held Luxa while Ajax clutched the squealing gnawer pup in a claw.

"Good evening Captain" Solovet said smugly. Her words implying spite for she never called Hamnet 'son' but only by his rank. What little comfort Hamnet had just achieved was quenched.

"Mother" Hamnet replied, but that was an eye-for-an-eye. Solovet preferred the title 'general' over anything, but it was Hamnet's way at getting back at his mother. Solovet's smug composure turned to its classical cold gaze in an instant.

"You have done well today Hamnet." Solovet said, setting aside Luxa, who was now awake, and drawing her sword. "Although due to your recent adoption" motioning towards the still sleeping gnawer pup, "I am going to have to try you for treason."

Hamnet couldnt help but to laugh. He has been laughing a lot today which scared him a little.

"No mother, I'm afraid you are going to have to be tried"

"What?"

"Yes. Were you not the one who ordered the murder of thousands of gnawers today?"

"It is a time of war!" Now Solovet wielded her sword before her.

"Aha, the hypocrite! But did you not poison the gnawers fishing grounds as well - mother." Now Hamnet wielded his empty wine goblet before him, mockingly in a fighting stance.

Solovets pale skin was red and tense when it was all resolved in a second with a smile.

"You are right, let us resolve our problems civilly and by trial" even graced with a smile. "Luxa is of the true royal descent, let her decide."

Solovet sat next to the princess, cooing her after all the yelling. "All you must do is point Luxa," first motioning towards Ajax with the gnawer pup then to Hamnet. "Do we punish the vermin for war, or punish the vermin for treason?" referring to both the gnawer and Hamnet as 'vermin'.

Luxa looked between the two, only a babe who didn't understand a word of what was just said. She reached instinctively for her small and fuzzy friend in Ajax's grasp, as if asking for a hug. Solovet took this que as the queens justice, and motioned at her flier to carry out the order.

"No!" Hamnet screamed, but it was too late. The gnawer pup was ripped into two without resistance, right before the baby queens eyes.

All was quiet for a second. Then Hera hurled through the chamber window to knock over and pin Solovet to the ground. Ajax went to aid his bond but was cut short when Hamnet toppled a stone desk onto his leathery wing, pinning him in place. Hamnet picked up his royal niece and ran to the window after his bond.

"Wait" a feeble voice said behind him. It was Solovet, dazed but conscious as she arose onto two shaky legs. "Where are you going?"

It was a good question. Where was Hamnet going. Never back to Regalia, or any human civilization for that. He was going away, far away, where he can hurt no one and no one may rule him. Hamnet pondered for only a bit before saying, "To find myself a new garden." Then he was off, jumping from his palace window and picked up by Hera, still tightly holding the princess in his arms.

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><p><em>Only two children came of Solovet and Vikus. The girl, Judith, came first and was showered in silks and praises. She was the destined queen of Regalia, and was treated accordingly ever since. Then came Hamnet, her twin who would be king of nothing, a shadow in the presence of royalty. <em>

_Hamnet's earliest memory was of his mother carrying his sister on her bat Ajax. The three would fly low and slow ahead of the Regalian army, over the city streets where onlookers awed at the child. She was the posterpiece of Royalty in her mothers parades: stiff like Solovet, but calm like Vikus, with an inborn comfort before crowds. Hamnet always spectated from Vikus's lap, high in the Palace. The twin of royalty with never a glance from Solovet or an acknowledgment from the throngs below. _

_At night Judith was just another girl and Hamnet another little boy. Most nights she could only whimper herself to bed.__  
><em>

_"Whats wrong?" Hamnet would ask her._

_"The dark," Judith would say, "I don't like the dark and i don't like being alone."_

_Hamnet could never provide comfort to those words. He was born in the dark, and accordingly embraced it. All he had ever known was loneliness, and now he has forged it to be his sanctuary. What his sister was given - light and companionship - has become her necessity to comfort, and her weaknesses were Hamnet's strengths. But she will always be queen. She will always have light and people to guide. Hamnet learned early on that he will have to cope without those royal comforts._

_At the age of 5 Hamnet and Judith attended their Culling. An event where all fliers and Humans of age are brought together and given time to select their bond. For two days time, children and bats alike are mingled in the arena until every child and flier alike have a bond. Some choose to display their strength, bullying others to display their physical dominance. Others correspond with wit so they can find another as savvy as themselves. Those with neither were paired with whomever was left._

_The Culling was easy on Judith. Her natural comfort with crowds paired her with Hestia, a charming and beautiful bat that could converse with anyone. Hamnet found himself to be an 'Other' and after two days was shown to a disfigured flier with one short wing. _

_Before leaving the arena that day, Hamnet pushed a little blonde boy behind a boulder so they were alone. He started yelling at him to give his bond to Hamnet. Hamnet knew that he would always be dealt the low-hand, and this would be his ascent to power. The blonde boy would not give up his new flier. Hamnet's bond came to the blonde boys rescue, standing between Hamnet and the boy. But Hamnet progressed on the two, and pushed the bat over onto the boy. The two toppled over and hit the boulder behind them. The teetering rock was offset and crushed the two, disfigured flier and boy, crushed the weak._

_ That left the boy's flier Hera to be bonded with Hamnet. __As Hamnet left the arena with his bond, Solovet smiled and greeted her child for the first time. Both Judith and Hamnet cried themselves to sleep that night._

_"If you want something," his mother told him, her purple eyes revealing nothing. _

_"Than you take it."_

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><p>Hamnet, Hera, and Luxa were flying fast over Regalia when Hamnet remembered that he wore no sword. Flier or not, it was almost certain death to live in the Underland without a weapon, especially with the blood strife between the gnawers and humans. Hamnet decided he still had time to retrieve his belongings before the guard was raised. A tug on Hera's furry coat and the three were headed back to his chamber at the Palace.<p>

Moments later, Hera hovered just outside Hamnet's chamber window as he crawled back in with baby Luxa clutching his neck. Both Solovet and Ajax were gone from the room, only a few drops of blood stood evidence to the conflict that had occurred. His sword still sat half drawn next to his bed where he had last thrown it down. Hamnet picked up the heavy scabbard when he felt the wet handle against his skin. Like that, a million emotions came flooding back to his mind of the blown levy and drowning gnawers.

On second thought, he set the blade back down where he had last left it. On third thought, Hamnet vowed there to never hold a blade against another creature again. It may of been his death sentence but Hamnet knew he would rather die knowing a creature has punished him for his actions rather than live as his mother does. He turned and slowly began making his way back to his chamber window after his heavy actions.

"Hamnet." A small voice said from behind him as he sat on the window seat. "Please leave my grand daughter here with me."

Hamnet turned to face his father. Vikus was off at the Fount for political reasons but surely has made a quick retreat when he heard of his wife's war path. Hamnet had flashbacks to his earliest memory, remembering that it was his father who nurtured him, held him, and taught him the path he knows now; his mother merely adopted him. He thought he saw the first strands of gray in the mans hair and beard.

"Hamme" Luxa said in her small voice. No more than a babe, dressed with a plastic tiara and a poopy diaper.

"Please son." He said 'son'. "Please leave the princess with me." His words getting softer and softer, almost begging at this point. His arms outreached but his legs immobilized. It was Hamnet's choice.

Hamnet pulled the baby from his neck and she released with struggle. She did the same teetering baby walk away from him as she did earlier.

"Fly you high son." Vikus said when Luxa had crawled into his outreached arms. Hamnet wanted to crawl into his arms as Luxa had. He wanted to cry. He wanted to apologize to the gnawers and chastise his soldiers. The sound of Bugles came from below and he knew that it was time to go. He vaulted from the window seat onto the back of Hera and was off.

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><p><strong>Read. Rave. Rage. Review.<strong>


	2. The Wedding

**Who will end up with whom?**

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><p>Gregor looked out at the crowd before him. All the Underland was gathered in the arena that day. As massive as the arena was, it was filled to the point that he could see trails of people that filled the streets in the distance. Gregor never recalled ever seeing so many people before, not even in the Overland, which is saying something having of grown up in New York City. But at the same time, he didn't expect anything less for a day like this. It was his wedding day.<p>

Luxa sat beside him in a flowing white dress. Gregor wanted to take a picture of her then and there: small silvery braids bordering her flowing hair, purple irises shining with dreams and laughs, and a smile you couldn't take away even if you fought her for it. Too bad the camera sat back at the museum. Gregor swore that he could smell the beauty coming off of his bride, and took a deep breath of her for encouragement before he stood up before the crowds.

"Underlanders!" Gregor bellowed as the laughs and jests slowly dimmed to silent. "I'd like to thank you all."

If a year ago you asked Gregor to stand before so many people and speak, especially about himself, he would've said 'not happening'. But something empowered him today. It made him throw his voice over the people, _his people, _like a king.

"I'd like to thank you all for being here today, even in spite of the distance some of you have had to travel." That went out to all the gnawers who sat at one table. Ripred sat at the head of that table and was easy to pick out by the white snout covered in shrimp cream sauce.

"I'd like to thank all of Regalia for being our hosts tonight." Cheers went up throughout the crowd but the message was special for Vikus. The old man sat a short ways down the table from Gregor. The last year had been especially rough on the master, but a new light has been gifted to him ever since Gregor proposed to Luxa. A new light that would see him through his grand daughters wedding and hopefully many years after.

"But lastly, Id like the thank our fantastic chefs for being out entertainment for the next few hours. And now I order you all to eat!" Cheers went up as Gregor sat down. The laughs and jests resumed and the dining commenced.

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><p>Lizzie insisted on sitting at the gnawer table. From her seat next to Ripred, she could occasionally catch the looks of disgust and worry from her mother a few tables away. Lizzie would be disgusted and worried for herself if she not had Ripred by her side, and that was all that mattered.<p>

But something had her attention, and it surely wasn't the five gnawers before her viciously tearing at a garlic roasted hog. It was a boy. He sat at the table just across from where she sat. He laughed with his company which included as many crawlers and spinners as Underlanders. But those green eyes. . . Lizzie noticed it like a quarter in a handfull of pennies. All the Underlanders around him had shining purple eyes. _But his were green._

He had curly hair that had refused to be combed; jutting out in every-which direction, but in the cute way. His jaw was sharp and handsome, as were the rest of his facial features. And when he smiled, she couldn't help but to admire his pearly white teeth.

"Hazard." Ripred said to Lizzie, wiping off his shrimp cream sauce beard with a leg of turkey. He laughed after seeing her face tighten in concentration. Lizzie thought of it as a puzzle and was working to make words out of H-A-Z-A-R-D, but could find none.

"No no, Hazard is his name. You know, the boy you've been drooling over for the past hour."

"I haven't been drooling" Lizzie said matter-of-factly. But she still felt the corners of her mouth just to make sure.

"Interesting isn't he. A Halflander - his father an Underlander and his mother from Over. He is probably the only of his species whi-"

"which explains his green eyes." Lizzie finished the sentence for Ripred. Ripred smiled one of his satisfied smiles.

"So would a Halflander and an Overlander make a Quarterlander child?" Ripred said. Lizzie stomped hard on his paw under the table but hurt her heel more than she hurt his paw. To this, Ripred let out a hoot of laughter, only to be silenced by a mouthful of his meat again.

Lizzie just sighed as she went back to gazing at her mystery boy. _Hazard the Halflander_ whose life was a puzzle she was determined to solve. Wait, was he just clicking like a crawler?

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><p>Hazard loved living in Regalia. It was a sort of Capital of the Underland where he was capable of practicing his lynguistics with every species represented. Luxa had even gifted him with a job in the code room. Since there were no real codes out there that needed to be cracked, it had been changed into a diplomacy room after the war. Many troubled creatures have come to him asking for help and it was up to him to relay the message to the Regalian Guard.<p>

His work also had him out in the city. On weekend's he taught the ancient language of pi to baby nibblers in the nursery. He had picked up a few words from the late Cartesian while working in the Code Room, and was now working to keep the language alive.

On occasion he would even be hired out by spinner traders to peddle goods at the bazaar. That really required skill since he had to communicate with all creatures wishing to purchase the illusive spinner cloth.

From all of his work, Hazard claimed to have of seen every creature of the Underland, yet there was one who he has never seen before who sat so obviously at the table behind him. Hazard would've been sure had he of seen her before, for she was the prettiest thing he had ever seen.

Her wavy brown hair flowed freely over her shoulders and down her back. She looked around with hungry eyes and stared at Underlanders like she had never seen a flier before. But then again, she sat at the Overlander table with Gregor's family where most people kept quiet and watched.

What had Hazard entranced though were those green eyes. Never before had he seen someone other than himself with green eyes. Well, maybe one other person had green eyes but she had not been in Hazard's life for a long time. But now they were back, and Hazard wanted them to stay for good this time.

"Lin" Hazard said to the slightly drunken crawler across the table from him. "Do you know who the Underlander girl is sitting at the table behind me?" Never once looking behind him in fear of being discovered.

Lin looked around him, and just shook his head. "Sorry Hazard." He said in his broken english. "But boy beside her. His name Larry. Met him earlier. Both from Overland."

Hazard looked over his shoulder to see for himself. There was a boy sitting beside her he never even noticed.

"My friend Hazard." Lin continued. "I will send little Lin with your greetings." Lin leaned over to his side while holding the table with his alcohol impaired crawler legs, all 6 of them. He whispered into the baby crawler by his side, and the youngster went scooting off. Hazard watched little Lin go shooting around the table, fueled by a belly full of mashed potatoes, and crawl up right behind Grace. The surprised woman gave off quite the scream when the little guy crawled into her lap.

"No no!" Hazard whispered back to Lin across the table while trying to maintain his outburst of laughter. "Not Gregor's mother! _The girl sitting next to Larry_!"

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><p>Angelina pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming because that would've been the most sane explanation of her last 48 hours. First, a mystery appearance by Gregor after having of disappeared for four years. He came to her dorm room door at night - 2 am to be precise. His excuse was that 'it's difficult to keep track of time in the Underland', but then she saw that he already had a groggy Larry in tow so she had to go.<p>

Then Gregor took the two, in the night, in the rain, in the dark, to Central Park. The same spot where her second grade class had their picnic, claiming that it was the entrance to the Waterway. Gregor pried up a large rock with a crowbar stashed in the bushes and hopped in an exposed hole. Larry went after him and Angelina would've been all alone, in Central park, in the dark, in the rain, in the night, had she of not followed. In the hole were two large bats. Gregor leaped onto the back of the first one calling it 'Aurora' and motioned at the other two for them. Larry got onto his, and Angelina was 99% sure she was vividly dreaming so she got onto the back of the third bat expecting to wake up in her room any time.

What really confirmed Angelina's dream was when Gregor told them that he was getting married the next day, to a queen nonetheless.

But here she was still 48 hours later at Gregor's wedding, a world record breaking dream surely. Their table at the wedding was mostly Gregor's family which made Angelina a little more comfortable. She tried to start a conversation with Grace a few times, but none of them seemed to want to talk much. A few 'Underlanders' as they were called, sat at the end of their table, but they stayed to themselves. That was until _He _showed up.

"Hey, I'm Howard. You all must be Gregor's family." He introduced himself as he sat down across from Angelina and Larry. It was Larry who came with the courage to fill the silence after his introduction.

"Were not family," Larry said pointing to Angelina and him. "Were just friends of Gregor's from school."

"School?"

Larry and Howard went droning on, but Angelina couldn't bring herself past the beautiful man who sat before her. They say you cant create faces in your memory that you haven't seen before in life. That was how Angelina surely knew she was not dreaming. She had never seen such a beautiful face before.

He had straight, but clean cut, brown hair and those signature purple eyes. His facial features were soft and rounded, like his hands which he keeps cleaning with incessant soap use. Even though he was young, his face was the product of long nights at the infirmary. He looked as though he had been to hell and back, but such was the ways of being a doctor in a time of war. It made him look wise. At the conversation though, he already seemed to be lifting his spirits and perking up to meeting new people.

Angelina just listened and watched.

* * *

><p>Howard had to escape. Ever since Gregor proposed to his cousin Luxa, York, Howards father, has been constantly pestering Howard to search for companionship as well. He had several Regalian women take him out to dinner and write him love poetry since he announced his availability for marriage. Women even came from the Fount to try their luck with the cousin to the Queen, but Howard wanted none of them. He had his heart set already.<p>

At the wedding it was at its worst. Women inspired by the love of the Luxa and Gregor swooned to Howard. When Howard went to sit at a table alone, it would fill up with eligible brides minutes later offering Howard cherries and meat along with their love. Howard excused himself from the table, and found a place they would never venture.

He sat with the Overlanders - people who stared at everyone and had nothing interesting to talk about. "Hey." he said as he sat down. He acutally found the conversation surprisingly light and interesting besides its awkwardness and all, a pleasant change.

But while Howard's mouth talked at this table, his eyes and heart were spying upon another. At the military table sat Perdita. She has been the acting head of the Regalian army ever since Solovet's death, and has been doing a fantastic job at keeping Howard busy in the Infirmary.

Howard tried fancying the idea with his father once, but he would not have it. "Too political." He said. "You need not your work in the Hospital to be cluttered with talk of battle tactics and maneuvers. Better to find a girl who nods and smiles." But Howard didn't want that. He wanted _Perdita_.

* * *

><p>Gregor sat alone at a table now. He watched as only a handful of people remained dancing on the floor, even when the musicians had left an hour before. Only a hundred or so people sat scattered at the tables throughout the arena that had seated thousands hours earlier. The Palace staff was just beginning to take down the event by stacking tables and chairs and wheeling them away.<p>

Gregor didnt want the event to end. A few moment ago Luxa claimed that she was heading for her chamber and granted Gregor one of those sweet kisses farewell. But there would be plenty more of those this morning and for now, Gregor wanted to take in the waning moments of what would be his greatest day ever.

He took time to finish his last goblet of wine, but alas it was empty. As Gregor left his table, he had to step over a sleeping gnawer who wasn't able to quite make it to the door. He wreaked of fermented berries as well. But before Gregor could even make it to the door, he stopped to admire one sight he had missed.

Sitting at a table was Lizzie, Hazard, Angelina, Howard, and Perdita, all of whom equally didn't want this night to end. Gregor laughed at the sight of such a strange group of people, but couldn't help but to wish them a happy evening, (morning).

"What a party-hardy bunch we have here!" Gregor said as he approached the table. He noticed Perdita immediately stiffen her posture and adorn a more pleasant smile when he seated himself next to her. "What a night."

"It has been quite the evening." Howard said, lightly sipping on his goblet of wine.

"Yeah, and I've met so many new people. I wish we can have an event like this every night." Hazard said. It was odd though, cause Gregor noticed he said that while only looking at Angelina.

"And did you meet any one new Lizzie?" Gregor said.

"No, not really." Lizzie said in her shy tone. "But I wasn't really trying either."

The table was silent for a moment after that. Gregor noticed something strange about the air around the table, the only reason why this particular group had come together. Everybody was tense and shy, almost as if they were waiting for somebody else to say something.

A thought crossed Gregor's mind, a thought so crazy that brought a sly smile across his face. Gregor thought, 'Why should this night of love only be reserved for me and Luxa?' So then he went to work.

"Howard." Gregor said, drawing the young man's attention. "I've been thinking that you could benefit from some Overland medical practices. If only we can figure out a way to maybe bring some materials down to the Underland."

Howard nodded to the idea. "Well, our leading cause of deaths is head trauma. If I could learn some techniques from the Overland though, we could potentially save hundreds of lives." Howard was hooked on the topic now, just where Gregor wanted him.

"Perhaps some literature is in order. I'll have Lizzie try and find some books for you when she goes home. Although, the public library doesn't always hold what we need. . ."

"I have some medical practice books." Angelina spoke up. Gregor's plan was unfolding.

"That's right," Gregor provoked her on. "Aren't you studying to be a neurologist?"

"Yeah, I even have some special practice books back at my dorm that I can bring you." Now Angelina was talking directly to Howard.

"I'd love to read some. Maybe we can talk some more in the morning."

"Why wait for the morning?" Gregor interrupted, trying to keep the sprouting relationship alive. "I mean, whats wrong with now?"

The two thought about the idea, but agreed that it was a good idea. Get Angelina and Howard talking about medicine and you could have a multi-day conversation Gregor thought.

"Lets go to the infirmary and I can show you what we use now. You could probably give us an idea on how to improve as well."

Angelina agreed with a smile, and let her mystery man lead her away leaving the two alone to 'talk' in the infirmary. Gregor felt that warm euphoria of accomplishment in his head, and let that fuel his next couple on his agenda.

"Hazard." Gregor said gaining the boy's attention. "Have you ever played chess?"

"Chess?" Hazard said.

"Yeah, chess. It is a game of strategy and tactics." Gregor said while using a knife to thatch the table in front of him, roughly resembling a checkered chess board. "You see, each piece on a board has an individual move." Gregor placed grapes as pawns on his rough checker board, and an assortment of meats and cheeses as castles, nights, rooks, queens and kings. "Now, the goal of the game is to find a fluidity among the pieces in order to take out the other team."

Hazard's eyes were plastered to the chess board before him. His eyes traced the moves of many pieces of the board, envisioning routes and strategies. Gregor imagined that he would've spent the rest of the day there had he not of interrupted his deep thought.

"You know, Lizzie was the Chatham Middle School Chess Champion."

Hazard turned to admire Lizzie with those sharp green eyes. Gregor laughed a little when his sister turned a bright red and used her kind of shy boasting.

"It was an easy year that year. I only had to beat 5 other kids for the title."

"And the principle of the school who was the previous reigning champion." Gregor threw in. This really had Hazard entranced now.

"Hey Lizzie, why don't you show Hazard the in's and out's of the game?"

"Well, I dunno... I'm not very good." Hazard stammered.

"I'd love to!" Lizzie said. In a second she was already sitting by Gregor and across from Hazard as she began explaining individual moves of knights and queens. "I like to think of each piece like a word. You never say just one word when you're trying to make a point. So when making a move, you have to think many moves in advance, like how many words make a sentence."

"And with that we can make poetry." Hazard said. The two laughed at that.

Gregor stood up from the table proud of his subtlety in matchmaking. As he was making his way out of the arena, the long night and early morning hit him like a wave, and he was stumbling on his feet in an intoxicated, drowsy stupor.

"Warrior!" a voice called from behind him. He recognized it as Perdita as she assisted him by his side. "May I talk to you about some real strategy and tactics. The cutters have been advancing for sometime across the wastelands. Maybe we can talk alone in my chamber?" Gregor was so tired he couldn't really formulate any response, even in lieu of a correct response. But another voice had his back.

"General. Maybe another time. The king is tired, but perhaps we should visit the armory and asses our stock of weapons and the potential need for more arms." Mareth stood by Gregor's other side. Perdita seemed to agree with the man, and the two left Gregor to make his way back to his chamber. They left just as Lizzie and Hazard, and Howard and Angelina had.

Love strikes again.

* * *

><p>When Gregor made it back to his sleeping chamber, his wife lied across the top of the sheets draped in the lightest of spinner weave. Gregor lied beside her hearing mumbles coming from the sleeping beauty.<p>

"What a lovely night." Luxa murmured in her sleep.

"No my love." Gregor said, brushing her hair back as lightly as a warrior could. "Love is in the night."

* * *

><p><strong>I am not so much of a love sucker as I am for a tragedy hog, but this one seemed ironic and right. Comment with your favorite pairing and possibly and additional chapter of their adventures will come about.<strong>

**-skiaholic**


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